Rousseff announces cabinet changes

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gives a press conference, on January 28, 2014, in Havana. Rousseff is in Cuba attending the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff today announced changes in her cabinet team ahead of October's elections, in which several ministers will be seeking office in the regional and national legislature.

The Secretariat of Social Communication for the presidency revealed today that from next Monday, the chief minister of the Civil House Gleisi Hoffmann, and Health Minister Alexandre Padilha will step down from their posts.

Hoffmann hopes to become governor of the southern state Paraná, which shares a border with Argentina and Paraguay. Padilha, meanwhile, has been put forward by former head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a candidate in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populated and richest state.

In Hoffmann's place, according to a press release released by the department, "the president has named the minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante," while doctor Arthur Chioro will lead the Health Ministry.

Mercadante's role in the Minister of Education will be filled by current deputy José Henrique Paim Fernandes.

The new ministers will assume their new roles next Monday at 11.00 local time (10.00 in Buenos Aires).